DANVERS, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. (CST) announced today the issuance of a key US patent, 8,481,279, which relates to methods for inhibiting the progression of lung cancers that express the EML4-ALK fusion gene. The ALK fusion gene is an alteration or defect in a normal gene called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) that is thought to play a critical role in the growth of some non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and has been central to the development of several promising new, targeted cancer therapeutics.